Councils ordered to remove 'pointless' road signs that waste taxpayer money, clutter streets and confuse motorists

  • Department for Transport Road Signs Task Force has set out new guidelines
  • It has called for councils to audit their current road signs or remove those that are unnecessary
  • The DfT's report says the number of road signs have doubled in the last 20 years
  • It wants temporary signs to have a 'remove by' date and stricter rules about how many can be installed at the same location 

By Rob Hull For Thisismoney.co.uk

Updated:

Sign of the times: The DfT wants councils to audit and remove unnecessary furniture as part of new guidelines

Sign of the times: The DfT wants councils to audit and remove unnecessary furniture as part of new guidelines

The Department for Transport has told councils to tear down 'pointless' road signs because they're wasting money and blighting streets with unnecessary furniture that baffles drivers.

New guidelines given by the department's Road Signs Task Force called on local authorities to audit signs in their areas and take down those it considers 'obsolete or unnecessary'.

In a report given to the Times, the DfT group is ordering councils to operate a 'less is more approach' to future installations and new rules regarding temporary signs. 

The Road Sign Task Force said the current concentration of road signs is 'blighting the landscape' of many towns and villages, as well as resulting in unnecessary costs for taxpayers.

This includes deadlines for temporary signs used to make drivers aware of impending road works or diversions.

Councils have been instructed to issue 'remove by' dates with all signs left at the roadside to ensure they're collected as soon as the information is no longer required. 

In a document issued to authorities, the DfT group requested that all red signs warning of a 'new road layout ahead' to be taken down within three months of the roadworks being completed.

Yellow and black instructions warning of new tarmac and ongoing construction work in housing developments should also come down no more than six months after the work is finished.

In addition, brown tourist information notifications will be reduced to only 'major destinations' and need to be placed within two or three miles of the location. 

The task force also wants no more than two signs to appear on the same pole, to avoid confusing motorists with too much messaging and said councils should consider mounting them on walls, railings and lampposts to utilise existing structures instead of adding more roadside clutter.

Brown tourist information notifications will be reduced to only 'major destinations' and need to be placed within two or three miles of the location

Brown tourist information notifications will be reduced to only 'major destinations' and need to be placed within two or three miles of the location

These are just some of the 'golden rules' the task force hopes will keep signage to an absolute minimum after a 2015 review revealed that there were 4.6million signs in place on our roads - twice as many as there were two decades ago.  

The DfT report states: 'The overuse of traffic signs blights the landscape, wastes taxpayers’ money and dilutes important safety-critical messages. 

'Clutter also increases risks to road workers and creates additional maintenance burdens.'  

Councils have been instructed to issue 'remove by' dates with all signs left at the roadside to ensure they're collected as soon as the information is no longer required

Councils have been instructed to issue 'remove by' dates with all signs left at the roadside to ensure they're collected as soon as the information is no longer required

While the new rules might help reduce the overwhelming amount of furniture at the side of the road it could put drivers at a greater risk of being caught speeding.

That's because the instructions also call for speed limit signs notifying motorists of a new limit should only be in place on the nearside of the road rather on both sides. 

And when new signs are erected, councils are told to take down any others that have become redundant if they no longer serve a purpose. 

A DfT spokesman told the Times: 'The safety of road users is our top priority, which is why we want to ensure that signs are clear and consistent. 

'While local authorities are best placed to decide if they want to remove, replace or install new signs, we provide guidelines to help ensure these are easy to interpret and comply with regulations.'

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